To Farrah (Guest): I am offended that you are offended. I have only compared the relationships twice. Once on how Stef felt when no one would accept her relationship with Lena, especially her dad because he thought it wrong. And secondly I compared how deep the mother and son feel for their significant others. Nowhere in my story do I compare Braille's struggles to that of same sex couples. And never would I compare the trials of foster siblings falling in love to those faced by same sex couples, that would be both insensitive and ignorant of me. Both examples of comparison were based solely on FEELINGS. Thank you for reading, I hope you continue to do so, have a wonderful day.
Tensions were high behind his front door, this Jude knew before he even got out of his car. There was a red Jeep Grand Cherokee parked in front of the house, bags were strewn in the trunk, water bottles and food wrappers littered the floor of the passenger seat, but what caught his attention the most was the car seat. Jude knew of his nephew, the almost two year old who was the spitting image of his parents, and his heart began to race out of fear. Gone now, was the thoughts that his moms were going to toss him out on his ass because of some asinine thing his sister had done, or was about to do. Gone, then, were the days of hoarding food, not knowing when his next meal was going to be. But not gone, was the small amount of hatred in his heart, the amount he held for his sister, and her husband. For, why did she get to go off and make this happy life without him? Was he that disposable to her...
He didn't know how long he stood there, staring at their red car, with the Massachusetts license plates, but he soon realized that he was not alone. She still smelt the same, and her body felt the same when she enveloped him into a warm hug. Her lips were still smooth when pressed to the skin of his forehead, and her voice came out in the same whisper when she spoke his name. He had a song running through his head, one line, "I'm moving to Manhattan, and I'm never looking back, never looking back." It was all that he heard when she spoke to him, and try as he might he could not comprehend the words that were spewing from his sister's mouth.
And so they stood, with her speaking to him with an urgent frequency and her arms flailing every which way, and him with MoZella lyrics running through his mind. He stopped, when he finally looked at her, her appearance causing his heart to speed up, and his palms to sweat. It was only when he saw her mouth the words I'm sorry that the sounds came rushing back to him, causing him to double over seemingly in pain. And much like when they were children, she rushed to him, halting...feelings hurt when he pushed his palm out to her. He stood, doubled over, catching his breath for several moments before he finally looked at her.
"Callie?" He asked, the words coming out in a rushed whisper of disbelief. She nodded her head, the curls she sported earlier were pulled back into a pony tail now, her face had thinned out some, gone were the chubby cheeks and the sad eyes. His sister stood before him, a woman. One so strikingly beautiful he had to pause a moment. It was then that his body chose to jump into action, gathering his older sister in a bear hug, letting the tears fall freely down his face.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair, "you just look so much like mom." And with those words, the brother and sister stood on the front lawn, crying into each other's arms for a mother long lost, but not long forgotten.
Stef sat in her living room, the couch still the same as it was four years ago, and yesterday when she fell into an exaustion fueled slumber. But today, it felt lumpy, and out of place. Standing before her was a man she barely recognized, one who had her son's name, and his face, and his mannerisms, but he didn't belong to her. She watched her son play Legos on the floor with his son, and watched as his eyes kept darting to the bay window. Wondering what in the world was keeping his wife and brother so long?
The man before Stef reminded her so much of herself, and very much of her wife. He was a fearless protector, this you could tell from the way he angled his son into the corner, shielding him from whatever could possibly attack. In the way he slid his hands around his wife's waist as she was just beginning to feel threatened. From the way he looked at his own mother, eyes shining with defiance and, dare she even think it, a splash of hatred. But underneath the harsh exterior of the alpha male, Stef could tell that her son still cried when he was feeling overwhelmed. She could also tell that between the two, Callie was the Lena, but he took on that role from time to time. His movements were soft and gentle, and when he touched his son the contact looked like whispers on skin. Stef could tell that the three of them were driven by love.
And even sitting in her living room, witnessing first hand, the love her son had created when he was 16, she could still not wrap her mind around it. The blonde woman, could not for the life of her, get the thought out of her mind, that their relationship was wrong on more levels that one. But what of the law, she would silently ask herself, and she would respond that they had technically not broken any. And what of the abuse, she would ask next, but Stef knew without a doubt that there was none. And what of...but she was out of questions.
The officer's attention was snapped in the direction of her front door as soon as it swung open, revealing the two faces that had come crashing into their lives six years ago. Each with a tear streaked path. Brandon was off the floor in a second, with a gentle but firm, 'Avery, stay put' he soon wrapped his arms around Callie, pulling her into his chest and away from Jude's.
Stef silently watched the exchange between the couple, as her son placed his forehead against Callie's, inquiring what was wrong. She witnessed the sagging of his shoulders as he morphed from the protective husband, to the caring one instead. And watched still as he wrapped his arms so lovingly around Callie, kissing the top of her head, and rubbing circles on her back.
And that interaction got Stef to thinking about the times she would find them in the backyard when they were teenagers. What Stef thought then was just a simple hug, was actually a brilliant display of love. The emotion shined so bright in everything the two did for each other, and especially in their child. Her grandchild.
The thought still caused her heart to skip a couple of beats, and her mind to shut down, and her breath to quicken. But there on the floor, playing with Jesus' old Legos, was her grandson. Her own flesh and blood. And she would be blind if she didn't admit that he was the most breathtaking child she had ever seen, including her own. She could admit to herself that this child was the better parts of his parents, and that he knew nothing of the wrong doings in his past. In his parents past. And her heart seemed to stop when Avery looked up at her, smiling with a missing front tooth, and held up a Lego.
"Gamma, wanna play?" The small boy asked, and Stef couldn't help the sob that escaped from between her lips. She nodded, placing herself in the exact position her son had left.
"I'm sorry I made you sad, Gamma." Avery continued, seeing his grandmother's tears. He crawled over to her, placing his tiny hands under her eyes, to wipe away the moisture there. He then kissed her on the forehead, and Stef's heart melted, how in the world could she think that the love that made this precious child was wrong?
"Daddy does that for Mommy when she is sad." Avery had gone back to playing with his toys, and Stef was still crying, and Jude was eating an apple, and Brandon was holding Callie, and Lena was chopping vegetables. All as if nothing had transpired in this corner. And so Stef didn't call their attention to it, choosing instead to build a castle with her grandson, and promptly demolish it, with sound effects and dramatic movements, and Stef laughed at the thought of the Legos that would be lost for months to come.
Dinner was a silent affair in the Adams Foster household. Forks could be heard scraping against plates as everyone ate the lasagna Lena had prepared specially for the night. Avery was busying shoving food into his mouth with an uncanny precision, not a single drop of the meal could be found on his bib. By precision it simply meant that he got the food everywhere, besides his mouth, or body. Callie smiled sheepishly.
"I'm sorry about that. I will clean it up once he's done." She said, effectively breaking the silence. Her eyes bounced between the two older women at the table, to exactly sure who to take her cues from any longer. Lena smiled at her, chewing her food, while Stef kept placing forkfuls into her mouth.
"It's fine, Callie. He's our grand baby." Lena responded and the younger woman nodded her head before picking up her glass of water and taking a rather large sip. The silence in the room was making her rather uncomfortable because she knew that this wasn't how dinners around here went, ever. There was always someone talking, usually more than one conversation going, and you had to pay close attention or else you get sucked in and you don't know to which conversation you belonged in the first place.
In the back of Callie's mind, she knew that she ought to say something to break the ice. She knew her role in this family was permanent, if the ring on her finger, the change in last name, or the children she was producing had anything to say in the matter. But the thought of starting the conversation terrified her to no end. But once again, the only way to get her husband and his mother to begin speaking again was to cause a commotion, so she inhaled a deep breath and spoke.
"I'm sorry, mom...Stef, for stealing everything from you." And with that she got out of her chair, to start cleaning the mess Avery had caused. She heard the forks clatter to their plates, and she heard her husband's annoyed huff of breath. And then they spoke at the same time.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." Brandon said. Pushing his chair back.
"You didn't steal everything, just my son." Stef replied. Callie paused in cleaning the floor around her son, to see the interactions between her mother in law and her husband. Brandon was standing in the doorway tot he kitchen, one hand on his hip, the other running through his hair. Stef was sitting in her sets, her mug of tea lifted to her lips.
"She didn't force me to run away with her, I decided to leave with her. Why can't you see that?" Callie continued to clean Avery's high chair, before lifting him out of the seat, and settling the two of them down in the living room before crayons and coloring pages.
"What I can't see is why you decided to throw your life away?" Stef replied, Callie reached out to flip through a few pages in the book before settling on one her and her son could scribble on together.
"I didn't throw my life away, mom. I'm happy. I'm married. I have a wonderful son. I graduated from university, I have a good job waiting for me should I choose to take it. Callie does as well." She could clearly see him pacing the length of the kitchen now, with each step and word he spoke, his hands were moving erratically, the anger evident on his face. "Why isn't that enough for you? Why aren't you happy that I'm happy?" The son stopped asking his mother for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Because you deserve better." The mother replied.
"Better than what? A wife who loves me unconditionally, a son who is so intelligent and he isn't even two yet? It can't get any better than those two." Brandon spoke evenly. "But you're right mom, I do deserve better. I deserve a mother who loves me no matter my choices in life. Who loves my family, no matter how I got them." He continued before kissing Lena on the cheek and turning into the living room.
"She's not good enough for you." Stef continued, though she clearly didn't know why. Callie went rigid on the floor of the living room. From her position she could clearly see the anger radiating off of her husband. There was a look in his eyes, that scared her for the first time since she told him of Liam. She motioned him over to her, and he complied, before sitting on the all too lumpy couch. Slowly she stood, making her way back into the kitchen. Tears threatened to fall down her face, but for the sake of her son, Callie held it together. She could clearly see her brother standing at the top of the stairs with his mouth open.
"Am I not good e-en-ough, momma." Avery spoke into the harsh silence. The tears fell freely now, as Callie pressed a kiss to the top of her sons head.
"You're more than good enough, my sweet boy." She said to him, watching as he smiled up at her. Raising her eyes from her son to those of her mother in law, she parroted the words back in perfect harmony. "You're not disposable, Callie. You're not worthless. Except when it comes to your son." And with that, Callie disappeared up to the second floor of the house she used to call home, passing her brother on the stairs.
In the back of her mind, she knew that she had asked for this, choosing today to start the conversation.
"I love you, momma. And daddy loves you too." Her son said, before closing his eyes against her chest.
"I love you too, Avery."
A/N: I'm not the best when it comes to dialogue, but I tried, because I had to progress the story just a bit. thank you all for the reviews, and the favorites and follows. I appreciate it.